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Introduction
There are a few concepts in Geocap which are important to understand in order to work efficiently with the software. The main concepts are Actors, Schemas and different commands. These concepts will be explained in this section. In addition to this section also talks about toolbars, color tables and keyboard short cuts.
Exercises
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Actors
In display context an actor is a graphical term for a visualization unit. A complex display is created by a set of actors. In Geocap the basic principle is that a display command creates one or several actors.
Visualizations are called actors
Schemas
By default datasets are organized into data types, such as points and lines (polydata), grids (structured points) etc. These are basic geometric types that contain little information about the domain in which they operate. E.g. coast lines, bathymetric profiles and boundary polygons are all lines (polydata), but the way we work with these types of data are very different and so it is only natural to classify them into different categories. This higher level of classification is made possible by schemas.
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The Shelf Module contains several schemas. Some of the schemas used in the Shelf Module are coast line, base line, limit line, seabed, sediment thickness. You can define the schema of a dataset in the project by right clicking it, and selecting set schema in the pop-up menu. The choice of a dataset´s schema controls which commands you see in the pop-up menu when you right click the dataset. You may create your own schemas as well as edit existing schemas by selecting schemas under edit in the main menu. You can also edit the commands associated with the schemas.
Commands
Commands are operations which can be performed on a dataset. Commands can for example be used to display a dataset in the display window, or to generate new datasets. You can even create your own scripted commands to cater to your specific needs. You execute a command by right clicking the dataset or folder you want to run it on, and then selecting the relevant command in the pop-up menu.
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Create an item command
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Get familiar with schema commands
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Change the default display for seabed surfacesThe seabed surfaces has a default command "Map sea" or something similar.
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Geodetic settings
Color Tables
Geocap comes with a set of predefined color tables which can be seen in the toolbox. These color tables are of course customizable, or you can create your own color table from scratch. By default the color tables shown in the lower right corner of Geocap will be used to display a dataset. You can change these color tables by selecting one of them, right-click another color table in the toolbox and select Activate. You can also use drag and drop to drag a color table from the toolbox and drop it onto a displayed dataset in the graphical window.
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Change the color table on a seabed surface
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Sticky Surface
Geocap has a concept where any surface can be set to be sticky. When a surface is sticky, data like points, lines or images may be displayed onto that surface. This is mainly done by re-sampling lines and displaying them a little bit above the sticky surface. When a surface is activated (or set) as a sticky surface, it is copied to workspace under the name sticky_surface. If this dataset is removed from workspace, there is no sticky surface anymore.
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Display data on the Sticky Surface
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Note that points and lines displayed onto a sticky surface are displayed without their original z-values, and this may not be what you intend to do when displaying a foot of slope point or a bathymetric line. Keep that in mind. |
Toolbar
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Will cancel any mouse action that is started but is regretted and should be ended without any operation. | |
Start a mouse action that when clicked on a graphical object will delete that object. | |
Start a mouse action that when clicked on a graphical object can set appearance parameters for that object. The appearence parameters are: Opacity, Reflection, Diffusion, Ambience. | |
Start a mouse action where the user is supposed to click on a surface that is map with scalar values. The mapping range of the scalar values according to the color table can then be adjusted. | |
Start a mouse action that when clicked on a graphical object will highlight the corresponding data object in the project. | |
| Start a mouse action where the user can click and draw a rectangle around displayed data and Geocap will list all dataset names and locations. | |
Will delete all graphics in the current viewport or window (if the window holds only one viewport). The corresponding references to actors in the project are deleted. Frequently used in free interactive work. | |
Will delete the last graphical object (also called and actor) that is displayed. Frequently used to erase a graphical object that shall be removed. Note: Redisplaying data from the project using the same command will erase the previous corresponding actor. | |
Will set the graphical window in 2D mode; i.e. only pan and zoom is allowed. The view direction (x, y or z) depends on the corresponding setting. In 2D mode the left button on the mouse is used for immediate cursor response for instance in digitizing. | |
Will set the graphical window in 3D mode; pan, zoom and 3D rolling is enabled. The default 3D mode renders in perspective view; i.e. parallel lines are not parallel on the screen, but shows a perspective. The non-perspective isometric 3D mode is found under toolbar View > Perspective > 3D Isometric. | |
Will turn the z direction of the graphical window upwards; i.e. the positive direction of the z axis points upwards. | |
Will turn the z direction of the graphical window downwards; i.e. the positive direction of the z axis points downwards. This is the default case because most surfaces are below the zero level, but still have positive z values. | |
Will show the graphical window as a frame box. It is important to use this icon to check the graphical window or whenever some display comes out weird if the display algorithm uses the graphical window to set display parameters. | |
Will draw default axes for all visible axes directions. No tick marks are display for simplicity, but the exact location of an annotation position starts at the beginning of the annotation. | |
Will open a Navigator which is a convenient menu for navigating a 3D graphical scene. To some (especially newbies) it can be difficult to use the mouse buttons to orientate the graphics. Be aware that rotation is around the focal point which also can be set by pointing the cursor mouse at a any location on a solid object and push keyboard x. | |
Will zoom in towards the focal point. The graphical window is not changed, although the graphical frame may lie out the visible part of the screen. | |
Will zoom out from the focal point. | |
Will View from above. This icon also contains sub-icons for viewing in other directions. | |
If several windows are created on the same Tab, this icon connects the selected windows to the same visual camera. Very useful when different surfaces that shall be compared are displayed in separate windows that are connected and show the same under all graphical movements. | |
Will show the viewport menu that allows for a quick way to create viewports inside a window. The number and layout of the viewports are determined by just double clicking on the lower right frame in the veiwport menu. If the viewports are connected they can also by used for simultaneously display of surfaces or features that shall be compared. Here is an example of a viewport display for presentation purpose. | |
Enables the light source to be moved around in the graphical scene. Will create shadows and highlight features. Usefull for presentation graphics and detailed studies of special structures. | |
Will scale the graphical scene with all its actor up or down. Very important for selecting a good view. The scaling should also preferable be set in the Project Settings so that the preferred view comes up when loading a project. | |
Will show up a 2D compass in upper right that follows the rotation of the graphical window. Another click on the icon will remove the compass. |
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Try out the different tools on the toolbar
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Keyboard shortcuts
Geocap has several keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys. Go Help > Keyboard shortcuts to bring up a list. A selection of the most important keyboard shortcuts:
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Try the different keyboard shortcuts
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